Park Hills Country Club

                                                            Park Hills Country Club

                                                          August 2020 Newsletter

Why do the greens have some thin areas this year?

This is a question I’ve received on several occasions over the past couple of months. Here’s the “scoop.”

Every year we apply a combination of two growth regulators, once in the late fall and then another three times in the spring. The objective of these apps is to reduce the growth and therefore the seed production of the Poa annua (a weedy grass prevalent in nearly all golf greens in our region). Weather plays a very significant role in the efficacy of these apps. Last year, efficacy was less, so this year we increased our frequency, not the rate, of the apps in the late May and early June period. The early hot and humid weather caused a reaction in the Poa and consequently, most of it died. The thin spots you seed used to be Poa.

While unattractive and in a few cases, a reduction in ball roll quality, the silver lining is that with an application of a Pre-emergent herbicide this late summer, we will nearly eliminate the Poa population of our greens.

This “Poa elimination process” was not intended, but, again, in the long run, it will pay dividends in the quality of our greens.

So, please be patient as the desirable bentgrass fills in the voids in this late summer and fall and our greens going forward will be better than ever.

Dick Stuntz
Oaks Golf